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From what I can gather this is a semi-sequel to the top down racing game “Thrash Rally”. Although that doesn't inspire confidence (it wasn't a very good game and was nicknamed Trash Rally) this is actually a very good and also fun driving experience.

Gameplay:

If you have played Thrash Rally you will notice some similarities when you get to the car selection screen in Overtop. You get to choose from a Ferrari F50 look-a-like, a Peugeot look-a-like and also a cool motorbike and a Hummer; all are a little similar to what you could choose from in T.R. In game though, things are much different. The vehicles handle fairly well, although they do take a lot of getting used to, but it can be a lot of fun sliding them around corners when you are used to it. The only big fault I found with the controls was that when you reverse, your steering is the wrong way round. For instance, if you wanted to reverse to the left, you would normally press left, just as you would in a real car, but in this game, you have to press right instead. This feels very strange at first, but I became used to it.

There is only really one course in this game, which sounds a little pathetic, but it is a lot more challenging than it sounds. You actually do one BIG lap through different terrains such as the city, desert, forest and snow among others and you keep going until you get back to where you started. Your handling varies between each terrain, although some cars handle better in different areas. The time limit that you get to do this in is quite strict, but along the way there are many shortcuts you can take, some very obvious and some very well hidden. The best way to find them is to watch the CPU controlled cars, as they always seem to take them.

Graphics & Sound:

Graphically this game is actually quite nice and a huge step up from its predecessor. The cars themselves are rendered and look quite good, while the course itself looks nice with lots of different terrain's to drive on. There is a fair amount of detail on all of them too, so keep an eye out for many of the nice little touches in it. There are some nice touches too, such as the radar at the top of your screen, which you should pay attention to so you know which way to turn, because this game does move quite fast. There is also a little symbol at the top of the screen, which tells you what kind of surface you are driving on (wet, dry, snow etc). This can be handy, because some cars handle very differently on different types of road surface. One thing that is pretty useless is that by pressing the D button you can flash your lights on and off. They automatically come on when you go into a tunnel, but when you are outside you can flash them on and off. I don't think this actually serves any purpose at all, but it is funny for a minute or two.

At first I was fairly impressed with the sound in this game, but after a while the music did start to get a little repetitive. The sound effects are well done though. Another thing which is just as useless as being able to flash your lights on and off is that you can beep your horn by pressing the C button. Again, it doesn't do anything special, it just seems to be there for fun.

Overall:

This is almost the best driving game you can get on the Neo Geo, although I'm split between this and another one; Neo Drift Out. NDO is also very good, but I think that I personally prefer this (only just mind you!). If you are looking for a good top down driving game then you could do a lot worse than to get this. The only real problem is that it probably won't hold your interest for all that long… Neo Drift out did seem to have more replay value.

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